If we ever needed proof that Coronation Street’s Julie Hesmondhalgh is a true national treasure, we found it in Celebrity Traitors. She fangirled, she overreacted and she simply couldn’t hold back from pointing the finger at, well, almost everyone. So, when Good Housekeeping caught up with her for our December cover shoot, we couldn’t help but ask her about her experience - and she revealed some very curious details about the BBC show’s intense rules.
While contestants are supposed to remain tight-lipped about life behind the scenes, Julie opened up about what really went on in the castle in an exclusive interview - and she didn’t hold back. From one phone call a day to surprise friendships and what the food is really like, it seems there’s a lot more going on than us viewers are seeing at home. These are the 5 important rules we learned from our Traitors icon, Julie Hesmonhalgh…
1. Traitors chat is monitored
If you’re watching at home thinking the celebrities spend all their time theorising and discussing who did what that might make them a Traitor (or indeed, a Faithful), you’d be wrong. There are strict rules in place around when players are allowed to talk about the game, which means that most of the time, they’re actually just getting to know each other. “You have these accelerated friendships because there’s a lot of time off-camera when you’re travelling in cars together and aren’t allowed to discuss the game,” explained Julie. “People tell you about their lives; I found out so much about people and I was really touched that they trusted me.”
2. There’s plenty of psychological support
During our interview, Julie admitted that she was surprised by how intense the show was. “It’s massive fun, but it’s also very, very intense because you’re all in there together, it’s a massive hothouse and you’re cut off from the rest of the world,” she said. “You’re [also] sleep-deprived. I think if your public-facing persona is quite markedly different from the person you are, you’re going to struggle. And I don’t think mine is. I’m quite guileless like that!”
Fortunately, help is at hand. According to Julie, the show provides a psychotherapist to support the contestants during filming and many of the players take advantage of it. “You get lots of psychological support,” she explained, “but nothing prepares you. You have to remind yourself all the time that it’s a game.”
3. You get one phone call a day
When it comes to communication with the outside world, the rules are tight, to say least. Are the celebrities allowed to call their families, you ask? Technically, yes, but not very often and it can’t be on their own phones. “You get one supervised phone call a day on production’s phone,” said Julie. Fellow star James Acaster also shared some insight into how communication works, telling The Mirror: “You can’t have an authentic conversation because you can’t tell them anything that’s happening. At one point my partner said, ‘Have you caught the sun?’ I was saying, ‘Oh yeah, we were outside for one of the missions.’ I was told I couldn’t even tell her that.”
4. Televisions are banned
Think the celebrities are spending their evenings in their rooms watching the latest episode of EastEnders? Nope, not quite. Julie shared that TVs are, in fact, banned during filming. “You weren’t allowed televisions because of ways that you can ascertain who went to bed latest,” she revealed. And as for music? “You’re not allowed Spotify because you can talk to each other through it,” she shared. That means no kitchen discos, then.
5. You are allowed analog entertainment
Well, thank goodness for that! While the players sadly won’t be indulging in box set binges and kitchen discos, they can enjoy a bit of old-fashioned reading time. Asked about the one item Julie absolutely had to take with her to the Traitors castle, she explained that it "a really good book to read when I was alone in my room at night." From the sounds of it, they also go to bed well-fed. "I really, really liked the food in the castle," Julie share. "Me and Romesh were the two vegans of the time there, but I dropped off a little bit and went veggie during it. But we were very well catered for. There were many dietary needs and I’m very grateful to the caterers."
The December issue of Good Housekeeping is on sale from Thursday 22nd October. Celebrity Traitors airs the same night at 8pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.